NEW YORK, NY, December 12, 2007: Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves delivered a well-received speech at the United Nations' High Level Follow-up to the Special Session on Children, in which he called for nations to "deliver on their existing promises" for children's health, education, assistance and development.

The High Level debate focused on the progress made in meeting the objectives of the document entitled "A World Fit for Children," which was adopted by the United Nations in 2002. Over 100 Member States made contributions to the two-day debate.

Ambassador Gonsalves highlighted positive health and education developments to highlight his assertion that "St. Vincent and the Grenadines is, in many respects, increasingly becoming a nation fit for children." He paid particular focus to the improvements made in the field of education in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, pointing out the achievement of universal access to education, the construction of new schools and learning resource centers, investments in early childhood education, and the provision of assistance to economically disadvantaged students.

The Ambassador also encouraged Member States to look beyond the minimum standards set in the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which, among other things, call for increased literacy and primary school enrolment.

"The seven-year-old MDGs, while undeniably important, cannot be a stagnant holy grail in a fast-changing and globalized world," he said.   "Nor should achievement of any or all of the targets merit self-congratulatory inertia. In today's world, for example, literacy and primary education are far less than the bare minimum required for children to succeed. We must accept the fact that a child with only basic literacy skills is a disadvantaged child in the modern global economy. Today, computer literacy is the new literacy, and an essential life skill."

Ambassador Gonsalves also assailed the "international blind spot that exists with respect to the children of Taiwan."

"There are over 4 million children in Taiwan under the age of 14, but their interests are not represented in this forum, the WHO, or any other UN body," he said. "It seems that the international community is capable of fashioning ways to recognize Taiwan's economic might, through the WTO, but unable to apply similar ingenuity or fortitude to the issue of its children."

The Ambassador's statement also highlighted the particular impact of Climate Change on Children's lives, and called for polluters to make " radical changes on our children's behalf."

Speaking out against gun violence, Ambassador Gonsalves stated that "the peace-loving citizens of our region are now awash in the swelling tide of illicit small arms that accompanies the narcotics trade. Our youth are increasingly on the giving and receiving ends of gun violence, and, unless we act now, our children's safety and innocence may be lost." As a result of this upsurge in regional gun crimes, Ambassador Gonsalves called for "a meaningful and effective supply-side prohibition on the traffic in small arms."

Ambassador Gonsalves also reminded the General Assembly that developed countries have thus far failed to deliver on their pledges of development assistance to developing countries. This failure obviously affects children adversely, he asserted, and " further belies our credibility and noble words today."

The Ambassador concluded that " the inescapable fact is that our goals and aspirations for children are unattainable without the financial assistance of the developed world. This holiday season, the best gift that we can give to the world's children is simply to deliver on our existing promises. They deserve nothing less."